Three hospitalized in bicycle-motorcycle accident

Abigail Curtis | BDN

Abigail Curtis | BDN

Belfast Fire Chief Jim Richards works Monday afternoon, Aug. 6, 2012 at the Route 1 scene of a crash between a teenage girl on a bike and a Michigan couple on a motorcycle. All three were transported to Waldo County General Hospital.

BELFAST, Maine — A collision between a teenage girl on a mountain bike and a motorcycle Monday afternoon on Route 1 in Belfast left three in the hospital with unspecified injuries.

The 14-year-old Belfast girl, whose name has not yet been released, had been pedaling south on the coastal thoroughfare at about 1:30 p.m., when she went to make a left hand turn onto Congress Street, according to Officer Mike Rolerson of the Belfast Police Department.

Motorcyclist John Mathiau, 57, of St. Joseph, Mich., also had been traveling south with a female passenger, whose name has not yet been released by police.

“Witnesses said the bicycle pulled right in front of the motorcycle,” Rolerson said.

Mathiau tried to stop, leaving a long black skid mark on the roadway, but lost control and collided with the teenager.

Rolerson said that the girl was very scraped up, and Mathiau was very bumped and bruised after the impact. But his female passenger appeared to be in the worst condition of the three, he said.

Both Mathiau and the woman were wearing helmets, Rolerson said.

A Waldo County General Hospital official said later Monday afternoon that Mathiau was listed in stable condition.

Police Chief Michael McFadden said later that the female motorcycle passenger was transported by LifeFlight to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

About a half hour after the crash, the crumpled pink and gray bike lay in pieces on the road, with the white motorcycle lying in a ditch. Police officers directed traffic away from the accident and waited for the Maine State Police accident reconstructionist to arrive.

Emergency crews from Belfast Fire and Ambulance assisted at the accident scene.